As the French team lined up for yesterday's World Cup match, their Tunisian opponents cast anxious glances towards one player in particular - this time, sitting on the bench.

They knew that to have any chance of winning the game, opposing teams need to subdue Kylian Mbappe. Widely regarded as the greatest player on the planet, the French number 10 can destroy any defence when he is on form.

In France's first match, he rose above the Australian defence to score with a glancing header. Three minutes later, he made a blazing run down the left wing and sent in a perfect cross for Olivier GiroudA French footballer who plays as a striker. to score France's fourth.

Then, in their second game, he scored both French goals in a 2-1 victory over Denmark. The two secured France's place in the next round.

This time, Mbappe's appearance in the second half was not enough to save France's match. But despite the 1-0 loss to Tunisia, Mbappe has undoubtedly led his team to the knock-out stages.

"What most impresses me about Mbappe is the variety in his scoring," the former England striker Alan ShearerAn English football pundit who scored 260 goals in the Premier League. writes in The Athletic. "His seven World Cup goals have been scored with his right foot, left foot, left thigh and head." At just 23, he has already scored 24 goals for his country in other competitions. 

In fact, says Shearer, Mbappe can score any kind of goal. Close dribbling, long shots, curling shots, dinks, flicks, side-foots - all are part of his repertoireAll the skills or remembered performances..

He is also incredibly fast: "Once he gets level with the defender, it's a disaster for them - nobody is catching him."

Mbappe is the second most expensive player in history: Paris St-Germain paid Monaco £163m for him.¹ He is now thought to be worth £250m. He earns £43m a year - but says that the money in football is "indecent".

In the last World Cup, he said that it was such an honour to play for France that he did not want to be paid. Instead, he gave his fee - over £350,000 - to Premiers de Cordee, a charity which organises sport for children in hospital.

He grew up in a small Parisian suburb, and comes from a sporting family: his father was a professional coach and his mother a handball player. They sent him to a Catholic school, and he is still a practising Christian.

He has always been ambitious. As a teenager, he learnt several languages so that he was ready to play for overseas clubs. His teachers remember him as intelligent, confident and mature.

When Mbappe was 15, he designed a cover of Time magazine for his homework, showing himself with the headline "El maestro". Four years later, he really did appear on the cover.

He is hugely influential, with 74.4 million followers on Instagram. When he was approached by Barcelona in June, President Macron persuaded him to stay in France.

He has started his own foundation to help children from the Paris area, and a production company to make films - including one about a Syrian refugee. He says he does not want to be "just the guy who shoots the ball and finishes his career and goes to the yacht and takes his money".

"I always say I dream about everything," he declares. "I have no limits."

Yes: You will never get anywhere in life unless you aim high. Even if you do not manage to reach all your goals, you will still achieve more than you would have done if you never tried. 

No: Mbappe is clearly a one-off. It is fine to be ambitious if you are born super-talented, but most people are not, and aiming for things that are beyond your reach will only make you unhappy.   

Or... Everybody is good at something, whether it is languages or painting or playing football. As long as you focus on that and find people to encourage you, you will realise most of your ambitions.